Winner Wouldn’t Take All as Pennsylvania Republicans Eye Electoral Votes

By Romy Varghese -
Sep 23, 2011

Pennsylvania Republicans are trying
to eliminate the winner-take-all system for electoral votes, a
move that might boost their presidential candidate’s chances in
a state that picked the Democrat in the past five races.

With the backing of Republican Governor Tom Corbett, Senate
Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi has proposed a plan, similar to
ones under consideration in four other states, that would
apportion 18 of Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes according to
victory in congressional districts.

This would assure the Republican of some votes because of
boundaries drawn to preserve party dominance, said Chris Borick,
a political-science professor and director of the Muhlenberg
College Institute of Public Opinion in Allentown. The move comes
as Republicans across the country are fighting to tighten voting
rules.

“They’re all motivated by the same agenda to increase
Republican share and representation,” said Daniel P. Tokaji, a
law professor at Ohio State University and associate director of
its Election Law @ Moritz center.

U.S. states have Electoral College votes equal to the
number of their members of the House of Representatives, plus
two for their senators. Forty-eight states grant all electoral
votes to the statewide victor of the presidential race, who must
claim 270 to win office. The nation’s founders created the
system as a compromise between having Congress elect the
president and having citizens do it directly.

Giving a Voice

Pileggi has argued that his proposal would more accurately
reflect the will of Pennsylvania’s people.

Dividing votes proportionally is fair, so that people
throughout the state are “able to weigh in,” Corbett told
reporters in Philadelphia on Sept. 21. Corbett said he didn’t
think there would be any guaranteed electoral votes.

Pileggi’s bill, which would hand out 18 votes by
congressional district showing and award two to the overall
statewide winner, is expected to have public hearings in
October, said a spokesman, Erik Arneson. Republicans hold the
majority in both chambers of the Legislature.

Republicans in Nebraska, which along with Maine doles out
electoral votes by congressional district, have proposed
legislation to reverse that system to winner take all. In 2008,
Nebraska’s electoral votes were split for the first time.

Both parties tried to change the rules when in the
majority, said Rob Richie, executive director of FairVote in
Takoma Park, Maryland, which supports a national popular vote
for president.

“There’s a frustration on the losing side and a
realization where we can receive a majority of the electoral
votes,” he said.

Although the Democratic candidate has won Pennsylvania for
the past five presidential elections, it is still a swing state,
said Borick at Muhlenberg. Because of the so-called
gerrymandering of congressional districts, only about five may
be competitive, he said.

“It takes our valued position as one of the key swing
states out of the mix,” he said in a phone interview.

Fewer Blandishments

Presidential candidates, who wouldn’t be able to sweep the
electoral vote, would be less inclined to promise actions that
would benefit the entire state, said Tokaji at Ohio State
University.

“It’s putting the interest of the Republican party over
the interests of the citizens of Pennsylvania,” he said.

Pennsylvania may also require voters to show identification
at the polls. Such a measure has passed Pennsylvania’s House and
34 states have considered similar plans, according to the NCSL.

Forty-seven states this year have enacted 285 election-
related laws such as limiting early voting and requiring
identification, and 60 percent were in states with Republican
governors, according to the legislatures group.

“They have the power, they don’t know how long they’ll
have it, and they’re looking to perpetuate that power,” said
Tokaji.